


A Stroke of Madness

by fraufi666



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Cousin Incest, Human Names, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Male Slash, Minor Violence, Multi, Nudity, One-Sided Attraction, Romance, Suspense, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-30
Updated: 2014-08-30
Packaged: 2018-02-15 09:59:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2224815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fraufi666/pseuds/fraufi666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A visit of a cousin from Kugelmugel is a great surprise to Austria. However, while the young artist is allowed to stay over, strange happenings begin to occur. As well as this, Kugelmugel begins to obsess over drawing Austria’s portrait. But will this obsession go too far? And does this have any relation to the odd events that had only happened after Kugelmugel had arrived?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Stroke of Madness

It was a clear, warm day, yet Roderich Edelstein once again chose to spend his time indoors, doing what he loved to do best: Playing the piano. 

His fingers danced enthusiastically on the keys as the notes swept through the room and into the whole mansion. The Austrian’s mind was at ease, enclosed in his own musical world and away from everything else. It was much more satisfying than venturing outdoors into the fresh air. He continued to play for a few moments, until a knock at the door startled him. 

"Mathilde, could you please answer the door?" Roderich called, slightly annoyed to be interrupted so suddenly. The maid standing nearby nodded hurriedly and made her way to the door. As soon as she opened it however, a small figure dashed straight through, two long, platinum braids flying. Shocked at the sudden intrusion, she spun around to chase after what had seemed like a young girl. 

"Excuse me!" She called, running into the room that Roderich was "Could you-" 

The intruder was standing directly behind the Austrian, who was still preoccupied with the song he was playing. Just as the maid was about to stop her, she had placed her hands over Roderich’s eyes. 

"Guess who…" The intruder chuckled. 

Surprised at the voice, the aristocrat jolted and spun around to face the intruder. The shock on his face was quickly replaced by a look of astonished recognition and he smiled stiffly. 

"Julian…" He gasped. The maid looked on, perplexed as she realised that the visitor was not a girl at all, but a young man with extremely long hair. 

"Guten tag, dear cousin." Julian greeted cheerily "I haven’t seen you in years!" He threw his arms around the aristocrat, burying his head into Roderich’s chest "I’m so glad to find you…I wasn’t sure if you still lived at your old address." 

"Of course I’m still living at the mansion." Roderich replied tiredly, determined for some answers for this abrupt visit "Now please tell me why you are here. You never visit, why now?"

Julian looked hurt at the question. “Okay,” He sighed, pausing to adjust his beret “I need your help. You remember that old house in Kugelmugel? You know, with the extra studio?”

The Austrian blinked, the question extremely unexpected to what he was asking, “How could I forget?” He admitted, “You’re still living there, aren’t you?”

The young man’s eyes turned to the floor as shame clouded his expression “Please don’t get mad…But I’ve lost it. My art is all I have left. If I sell them all at a decent price, I might get the house back.”

"Oh Julian." Roderich chided, his voice filled with disgust. He quickly turned away to the window, too guilty to witness Julian’s crestfallen expression. Ever since childhood, Roderich knew only too well about Julian’s obsession with art and rash behaviour "What were you thinking?! You can’t spend all your money on art supplies.” 

"But it was a masterpiece!" Julian exclaimed, raising his hands dramatically "I spent so long on it but it was worth every drop of paint. The person who commissioned it turned it down unfortunately, so I need someone else to buy it. " He marched towards the Austrian and gripped his shoulders tightly, causing him to flinch "That’s why I need you. Please, won’t you consider helping your cousin?"

Roderich gazed at the young face that was framed by the long, white braids. As much as he was disappointed with his cousin’s spending choices, he was afraid that another word of negativity would break the young man.

"Show me the painting…" Roderich decided, looking straight at the light purple eyes that were beginning to shine with hope "…And I’ll think about it."

Julian dashed outside momentarily and returned with a large, black case. With a triumphant smile, he placed the case in front of the aristocrat and opened it. 

Mountains of sheets and canvases lay inside in a chaotic mess. Some were creased roughly from lying in the same position for so long while others appeared smudged with charcoal. Roderich reluctantly took a closer glimpse at the pile, believing that nothing in the case would be of any artistic worth. Julian, who was watching him closely, quickly drew out the canvas that he had been meaning to show. As soon as Roderich’s eyes fastened onto the canvas, all words had escaped him. 

Lush, emerald coloured plains lazily stretched over the bottom of the composition, the tips curling at a slight breeze. Above it were the distant, misty Alps, which reminded the Austrian instantly of Salzburg, the place where he had enjoyed spending his childhood. Even though there were no trees at all in sight, lightly coloured flowers dotted the plains. There were not too many, in order to avoid taking the viewer’s attention from the rest of the painting, but not too sparse to warm up the landscape. To frame the painting was the dark cyan sky of a spring day, which almost seemed to make Roderich’s face feel warm, even without going outside. 

"Well? What do you think?" Julian looked at the Austrian timidly, suddenly concerned as to whether he would receive a compliment or a criticism. 

Roderich finally turned to the source of the voice. “Entschuldigung.” He replied, taking off his glasses to give them a polishing. “I just..I didn’t expect to see something so…Life like.”

Julian’s worried expression changed into one of relief as he threw his arms around Roderich. “Danke! Danke! I am so grateful. So will you buy it? For me? Bitte cousin.”

With a weary smile, the aristocrat gave a gingerly pat on the young man’s back. “Well…It is lovely. But I don’t think I need to spend money on yet another painting. I already have so many.”

"What?!" The younger Austrian looked on in horror as if the words that had been spoken were the worst form of blasphemy ever known to man. "I…I spent so long on this piece. I thought you would be happy." Suddenly, his voice began to quiver and tremble as his eyes moved to the floor. "I have nowhere to go. Do you want me to live out on the streets?"

Feeling irritated by the young man’s words but slightly regretful, Roderich finally gave in. “Okay, I will buy the painting. But I will only give you a small price. How does 15 Euros sound?”

"That’s peanuts!" Julian shouted "I might as well have just scribbled on a piece of toilet paper and given it to you."

"There is really no need to speak such vulgar things." Roderich scolded, frowning at his cousin. "Okay.." He admitted, "So 15 Euros would not be enough for you to live on. But…why don’t you come live with me instead? At least, until you get back on your feet."

Amazed at the sudden change of heart, the young man was joyful once again “Vielen Dank, liebe Roderich. You don’t know how grateful I am.” His pale cheeks flushed, he stood on his toes to give the older man a peck on the cheek. Before Roderich had any chance to respond, he was skipping off upstairs. It was as if he was just another wealthy Austrian who did not have a single worry in the world…. But Roderich knew he would have one. Of course, at that very moment, there was no way of telling how serious this worry was going to get. 

The next day, Vash had paid a visit to the mansion. Roderich greeted the Swiss, smiling at his close friend. His heart fluttered as they leaned in to kiss. 

"Vash…there is something I have to tell you." Roderich said hesitantly "My cousin is staying over. He’s a bit eccentric, but he means well."

Vash shrugged. “Okay, I guess if you say he’s not so bad, then he should be okay. Where is he?”

As if to answer his question, Julian came sliding down the banister, dressed in nothing but his underwear. “Morgen Fräulein!” He called grandly. “I see that you are a very lucky lady to meet this handsome cousin of mine.” He quickly turned to Roderich, who was blushing furiously at such a display “Why didn’t you tell me that you have a girlfriend? She’s not overly pretty, but it’s still news to me.”

Glaring at the scantily clad young man, Vash’s face was also bright red “I am not his girl friend! I am…I am a man.” The Swiss turned to the Austrian for some quick answers “Who is this lunatic?!” He demanded. 

"I’m sorry…but that is my cousin, Julian. Julian, this is my friend Vash." Roderich quickly ushered the young man out of the room, his blood boiling at the way the introduction was going "Get back upstairs and put some clothes on. NOW!" 

After regaining his composure, he returned to Vash. “Please forgive me, I had no idea that he was going to do that.”

"Well you weren’t wrong when you said that he was eccentric." The Swiss answered "But..you both seem so different. Are you sure that he is related to you?" 

Roderich sighed, “I just think that he’s been out of my sight for too long. He has nowhere to go now, so it’s my duty to help him.”

Vash gave a small smile, impressed by the gratitude of the aristocrat “I guess that’s why I like you so much.” he replied shyly. A hand slipped onto Roderich’s, who flinched but then relaxed. He returned the smile as the two went to the dining room to have breakfast.

While they sat and ate, Julian entered the room with a grin and a sketchpad tucked under his arm. 

"Roderich! Is it okay if I draw you today?" He asked. The aristocrat looked up from his plate, addressing the younger man’s intent gaze. 

"I…I suppose so." Roderich replied, startled by such a request. "But I have some errands to run today. Vash and I were also planning to head out in the afternoon."

"Was?! Errands? What errands?" Julian scoffed, taking a sip of orange juice. He grabbed one of the bread slices from the plate in front of him and began chewing noisily. "You have servants, surely you can just pay them to do the errands for you. Isn’t that what they’re for?" 

"Please don’t speak with your mouth full…" The Austrian scolded. "But I guess you do have a point…"

Satisfied with the answer, the young man continued to devour his breakfast. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he got up and walked over to Roderich. 

"Hope you have a nice day with your girlfriend!" He called, flashing a cheeky smile at Vash who was beginning to fume. "See you later!" 

 

Outside was even warmer than yesterday as Roderich and Vash made their way to the field. Even as they sat down under the shade of a tree, the sunlight that filtered through the leaves was still hot on their skin. The Swiss, staring out into the landscape had removed his coat and laid it on the grass. Roderich, who was uncomfortably warm in his long coat, began to follow the other’s actions and started to loosen a few of his buttons. A gentle breeze swept through his collar and cooled him temporarily. 

The blond laid his head on the Austrian’s shoulder, sleepy from the heat. Roderich moved a hand up to stroke his hair, staring into the landscape. 

"It’s much too hot…" Roderich complained, "But it looks beautiful outside."

"So you would rather stay cooped up indoors in that musty room instead?" Vash asked. "Come on, you silly Austrian. It’s good to have some fresh air."

"Well, I much rather spend some time with the piano. I still haven’t prepared for the upcoming recital." Roderich replied, turning to gaze at the Swiss. The other laughed as he took off the Austrian’s glasses and pushed him down gently. Climbing on top of him, he planted a kiss on his mouth.

"Now will you stop complaining?" Vash asked, running a hand down Roderich’s shirt, which was now unbuttoned. "Where else could we go? If we went to my place, Lili would be asking questions but if we stayed at yours, that creepy cousin-"

Roderich cut the other off with a tender kiss. “Now look who is complaining? I told you, he’s not so bad once you get to know him…He’s just a little weird.”

Vash began to remove the shirt off the aristocrat and was also taking off his own. “I don’t know,” he chuckled, pinning Roderich to the ground. “He seems a lot weirder than you.” 

"That’s enough out of you, Herr Zwingly." Roderich laughed as he tried to wriggle out of Vash’s grasp. Succeeding that, he managed to tackle the Swiss until he was sitting on top. 

Moving his face close to Vash’s, he traced a hand over the blond’s cheek. “Don’t worry, you’re still as pretty as a Fräulein to me..” He teased, kissing him on the forehead. A smile crept on the Swiss’ mouth as he gave a playful punch at Roderich’s chest. 

"I don’t want to hear you say that again, Herr Edelstein…or I’ll burn your piano."

The two burst into laughter. As their kisses became more intimate and longer, the sound of a breaking twig had stopped them in their tracks. 

"What was that?" Vash gasped, sitting up suddenly. Roderich let go of the Swiss’ shoulders and spun around. Putting on his glasses, he quickly dressed and walked around the field, scanning the landscape for a sign of another person. 

"Maybe it’s just an animal." Roderich answered reassuringly, as he resumed his seat beside Vash.

"You idiot. It wasn’t an animal. Someone was watching us." Vash was hastily putting on his shirt and coat, glancing around him worriedly. "Where are you?!" He shouted. "Come out here!"

To their disappointment, there was no one in sight. Whatever had been making the sound had already left long ago.

"Maybe we should go…" Roderich decided. "Do you want to come back to the mansion?"

"I think I’ll head off." The Swiss replied, still worried. "I’ll see you later."

"Oh.." Roderich looked disappointed. "Auf Wiedersehen, Vash." He walked closer to give him a kiss, but the other had turned around and was walking away quickly. 

 

Feeling rejected, Roderich arrived home. Julian was vigorously sketching in his book and as soon as the Austrian walked in, Julian looked up. 

"Roderich? I didn’t expect you back so soon." He stood up quickly and walked to the piano. 

"What were you doing?" The older man asked suddenly. Julian looked surprised at the question, but recovered quickly.

"I’ve been drawing. Do you want me to draw you now?"

"No no, I need to practice the piano." The Austrian answered dismissively. He felt his face grow hot as he thought of being watched while under the tree with Vash.

Julian merely stayed where he was. “Well that’s just perfect! You see I find music an art form. You practicing would be perfect. I can just draw you like that.”

"Julian, I-"

"Bitte?" The artist peered at Roderich innocently from underneath his beret "I really think this could be a masterpiece. You just keep playing like you would."

Knowing that he was defeated, Roderich found himself agreeing to his cousin and was at the piano. 

"I don’t have to pose or anything, do I?" Roderich asked reluctantly "I really need to prepare myself for the recital."

Julian shook his head “No. There’s no need. I want to capture the movement and flow of the music….through impressionism. It’s a style I’ve been meaning to try out for a while. I just want the gestures, not the details.” 

"Okay Julian." The Austrian seemed more relaxed by this explanation "You can draw then."

As Roderich began his warm-ups and scales, Julian studied him intently, watching the way the long, slender fingers had swept over the keys deftly. His eyes journeyed up the long arms and then towards the face. The older man’s eyes were shut behind his spectacles and he looked more like he was in a trance, rather than doing an exercise, which required concentration. It was an expression familiar to him, one that he remembered seeing when he was much younger and playing in the courtyard.

Roderich was only a boy, smiling as he tried to chase after a hoop. Julian, who was slightly older than a toddler was finger painting some flowers on the pavement. The boy was happy and truly at ease with himself, the only worry being the hoop that was rolling down the path. 

"I’ve got it!" He cried, his violet eyes sparkling as he held the hoop with a grin. "Julian! I did it! Julian!"

"Julian!"

The young man blinked and quickly turned his attention towards Roderich, who was waiting impatiently at him at the piano.

"I’ve been calling you for a while. You can’t fall asleep while drawing. Not before I play the best piece."

"Oh! I am so sorry!" Julian rubbed his eyes and he picked up his pencil "Please continue your song." 

 

That evening, Roderich came to the young man’s room. “Gute nacht, Julian.” He said quietly, as he helped tuck him in. The artist’s white hair, illuminated by the moonlight was long and tangled out of the braids and seemed to blend in with the pillow. His large, purple eyes only made him look even strange, as if he were some being from another world. 

"Gute nacht, Roderich. And thank you for letting me draw you." He smiled at the Austrian, whose expression was difficult to see in the dark. Roderich moved in close and gave a small kiss on Julian’s forehead before shuffling out quickly. 

For that split moment, Julian noticed how cool the man’s lips had felt on his skin. It was a strange sensation, but it was not one of discomfort. He was about to speak, but Roderich was already out of the room. Turning over and pulling up the blanket, he glimpsed out of the window, unable get the feeling out of his head. Roderich was a kind man, who had given him a place to stay when he needed it and even bought one of his paintings…but something was so different about him. He had seemed to change so much from the time they had spent when they were children. The aristocrat was serious, fussy and on edge. There seemed to always be something that was bothering him. Julian frowned. Was he always like this? It was difficult to say. 

Maybe he will be better by tomorrow, thought Julian hopefully as he closed his eyes. 

When Julian woke up, Roderich was waiting for him at the dining table. 

"You really ought to wake up earlier." Roderich scolded with a frown. Julian’s hopes had dashed. The Austrian was still as moody as he was yesterday afternoon. 

"Liebe Roderich…" Julian began sweetly "I was wondering if I can draw you again, like yesterday."

"You’re still not satisfied?!" Roderich asked in surprised, looking up from his breakfast "I thought you had already drawn me enough yesterday."

"But the sketches…" Julian explained quickly "The sketches are still not quite in proportion. I need you to model for me so I can get them perfect. Please, Roderich? It won’t take too much of your time."

The aristocrat shrugged “I suppose so. But I was hoping to see Vash later today.”

"It’s okay!" Julian replied with a smile "I can do with the exercise. Where are we off to today?"

Roderich’s eyes narrowed “I didn’t say that I was going to invite you along. I want to see Vash in private.”

A cheeky smile began to form on Julian’s lips as he immediately had an idea what the Austrian was going to do. “Ah…Very well. Well I don’t want to stop the lovely-dovey moment between you and your girl friend.” Sniggering, Julian began to prod at the pieces of his pancake with a fork. 

"I…" Roderich was speechless "It was nothing of the sort! What are you implying?" a horrible thought came to him as he thought of the breaking twig during the last encounter with Vash. "How..How did you…"

Julian placed a hand on the Austrian’s shoulder “Why are you so defensive for? I just assumed that you two were close.” The artist said innocently “Unless you both….”

"I refuse to continue this conversation!" Roderich said fiercely, standing up from his seat "I need to play piano now." With that, the Austrian walked away briskly, not even looking back at the younger man who was smiling smugly, clearly pleased at the power he had over his older cousin. 

Roderich did his warm ups and practised for the recital for about a couple of hours before taking another break. Just as he sat back down, Julian had walked into the room holding his sketchpad. 

"You still haven’t answered my question, Roderich." Julian said with a smirk. "Well? Can I draw you? It’ll only be for a little bit."

The Austrian sighed, “I already said you can. Just make it quick, okay?”

"That’s fine by me." Julian said as he took a seat. Taking a pencil out, he began focussing on the contour lines of Roderich’s profile and appreciating how distinguished his features were. He sketched lightly to begin with and then later on pressing harder for the features that he liked the most, such as the concentrated violet eyes and the mole that was just below his lip. As he gazed at the mole and the lips, which had kissed his forehead the other night, he shivered slightly. It was a certain rare beauty that most other Austrians did not possess. For a moment, he had the urge to touch those lips again, to savour the aristocrat’s charm that was so hard to reach. 

But Roderich stood up suddenly, snapping Julian back to reality. 

"I’m going to go now." Roderich said to the young artist "I’ll be back this evening. May I see how you are going with the portrait?"

"I’m not done yet." Julian answered quickly, closing the sketchpad hurriedly. Even though he had drawn him a couple of times, he was still not very confident with his efforts. 

Roderich looked surprised, but nevertheless he seemed to understand what his cousin meant. “Okay then. Servus.” He replied and with that he had left. 

A few minutes later, the carriage had stopped at a lake near the field where Vash and Roderich met the other day. The Swiss was standing near a tree. As soon as he saw the carriage stop, he waved and greeted the aristocrat. After the carriage drove away, the two kissed tenderly and Vash led Roderich closer towards the lake.

"I’m sorry about the other day." The Swiss said quietly "I just got scared that we might have been watched, so I made sure that we found another spot. Is that alright with you?"

Roderich smiled as he placed a hand lovingly on Vash’s cheek “Of course it is.” He replied, “I missed you, you know.”

The shorter man blushed at the endearing words “I missed you too.” He walked closer to the lake. Pulling off his boots and socks, he placed his feet in the water. He looked up at the Austrian expectantly, as if he wanted him to follow his lead.

"Oh no, the water could be dirty." Roderich said in refusal. Besides, I might catch a cold." He was lying, for the afternoon was pleasantly warm. 

"Don’t be a wuss." Vash said, slipping off his jacket. "The water will cool you down."

Roderich thought for a moment. His shirt was sticking to his back uncomfortably and saw that the Swiss was slowly taking off the rest of his garments. He blushed. 

"Is anyone going to see us?" Roderich asked anxiously

"Pfft, of course not. I made sure to find a spot that is indiscreet. Stop making excuses or I’ll take your clothes off for you." 

At Vash’s words, the aristocrat smiled awkwardly and began to remove his garments. In nothing but a white shirt, Roderich slowly dipped a toe into the water. In contrast to the Austrian, Vash jumped into the lake, wearing a pair of shorts. 

"The water’s beautiful!" He exclaimed to Roderich "Come on, don’t be worried. It’s really quite refreshing." 

Roderich carefully lowered himself into the water and realised that the Swiss was right. He sighed as he felt the cool water touch against his warm skin.

Vash laughed and splashed some water at Roderich. Shocked at the sudden rush of cold water against his face and hair, he quickly splashed some water back at Vash. They continued that way for a few more moments until they were completely soaked. They laughed at one another and swam closer to the shade. 

A calm silence passed between them as Vash waded closer to the Austrian. The aristocrat smiled and delicately swept the dripping blond bangs away from the other man’s face and gazed into his deep emerald eyes. The Swiss blushed a little and slipped his arms around Roderich’s shoulders. Gently, he slid the white shirt off his shoulders, exposing the fine, porcelain skin underneath the leafy green shade.

A hand stroked Vash’s face, the long and slender hand of a pianist. Vash closed his eyes, treasuring the touch as the Austrian leaned towards him to kiss his lips gently. They embraced for a while, the heat of their bodies comforting one another. After exchanging a few more caresses, Vash untangled himself from Roderich’s embrace.

"It’s getting late." He said quickly, breaking the romantic moment between them. "Lili is probably wondering where I am." 

Roderich nodded, for the sun was beginning to set in the distance “You’re right. We better go. When do you want to meet tomorrow?”

"We can meet here and go have some lunch together. What do you think?"

"That sounds nice." Roderich replied, "Just as long as I get to save money." 

Vash splashed some water on the Austrian and made a face “Some things never change.” he chuckled “I’ll see you tomorrow then. Tschüß.”

The two exchanged a brief kiss and then climbed out of the lake where they got dressed and then went their separate ways. On the way back to his house, Roderich briefly saw a flash of red scurry through the trees.

"Hey!" Roderich shouted.

But the figure ran faster and had disappeared into the forest before the Austrian could catch him. Puzzled but tired, Roderich went back to the house. 

As he walked through the door, one of the maids nodded at Roderich’s arrival “Guten Abend, Herr Edelstein. Your cousin is out and won’t be back until later.”

"Was?" the aristocrat asked, startled. "He didn’t say anything about going out for the evening. Did he inform you of where he was going?"

"Nein, leider." The maid replied. "I didn’t want to intrude. I did spot him carrying his art things. Perhaps he went outside to paint a picture."

"Perhaps." Roderich replied. He was annoyed, but too tired to ponder the issue any further "Well, I’m very exhausted. Could one of you please run a bath for me?"

"Right away, Herr Edelstein." The woman replied meekly. With that, she went upstairs.

A few hours later after Roderich had a bath, he began to get ready for bed until Julian burst in . 

"Where have you been?!" The Austrian demanded, "I was worried about you, you know."

"I was just painting…" Julian replied innocently, "I couldn’t get a clear view of the sunset without going outside properly."

Roderich frowned. Something in his words did not sound very convincing. But he was still too weary to prod him any further “We will speak about this tomorrow.” Roderich said in reply “Now you can go to bed. Gute nacht.” Giving a quick kiss on the younger man’s forehead, he made his way to his room. 

Surprised at the pleasant touch, Julian gave a slight smile and went to his own bedroom. After closing the door, he pulled out his sketchpad and went over one of his sketches, cleaning up any excess pencil lines and adding in more shade and colour. Satisfied, he put his pencil down. 

A pair of violet eyes from underneath some loose, brown hair looked back at him. Content with his efforts, he kissed the man’s face, leaving some charcoal on his own lips. 

"Gute nacht, mein liebe cousin." Julian whispered at his portrait of Roderich before turning off the light and climbing into bed. 

As soon as he closed his eyes, he found himself lying on a bed which was as white as snow and as light as a feather. A tall figure, cloaked in a jacket as black as sin was approaching him. He stretched his hands out to Julian and began smoothing down the blanket. To Julian’s embarrassment, he was not wearing any clothes on at all. But that did not seem to really bother the dark figure at all. As he drew closer, Julian caught a glimpse of a familiar pair of violet eyes. 

"R-Roderich…" Julian breathed, finding it difficult to comprehend what was going on "What are you doing here?"

The Austrian remained silent, merely tracing tracing his long, pianist fingers through the young man’s silver hair. Slowly, he leaned close to kiss him on the forehead and then gave a couple more kisses; one on each cheek. Then, he leaned closer to give a final kiss on the mouth, a much stronger and passionate one compared to the others. Julian shivered at the touch, for it was just as beautiful as he had imagined. 

"We-we are cousins," The artist stammered, finally recovering from the kiss "We shouldn’t do this." He tried to cover himself up with a blanket, but Roderich pulled it off straight away and shook his head slowly. Running his hands against the younger man’s bare skin, Julian sighed at the touch, for it was so soft and silky. Just as he had imagined when drawing and interacting with him on a daily basis, the Austrian really did have delicate touch. Something within him stirred, a forbidden and unspeakable feeling. He had shamefully enjoyed these caresses and wanted them to continue, but he knew that they were wrong. Eager for Roderich to continue, he tugged at his jacket, as if an attempt to get him to join him on the bed. 

"Nein…" Roderich whispered, his voice sounding strange and not at all like how it usually sounded, "We need to be discreet about this."

Julian nodded reluctantly, but nevertheless he understood. “Okay,” he replied obediently “I won’t tell.”

 

He woke up with a start. To his disappointment, his room was empty, for it was only a dream. Sighing, he changed into his everyday clothes and went downstairs. 

Roderich was sitting in the dining room, dressed in a long, dark coat, similar to the one in the dream that Julian had. Embarrassed, the younger man looked downcast. Did it really happen? No. It was impossible. The Austrian would never behave in such a manner. 

"What’s wrong with you?" Roderich asked suddenly, curious about the other’s expression "Do you have something to hide?"

Julian blushed “Oh..I thought you wanted me to be discreet…” he heard himself say and then cursed himself inwardly for giving away his private fantasy.

"What in heaven’s name are you talking about?" Roderich frowned. He adjusted his spectacles and then picked up a cup of tea "I still would like to know what you were doing so late at night? You were gone outside for ages."

"I was just painting!" Julian answered frantically "I already explained this to you yesterday."

"Then, may I have a look at your work?" Roderich asked. He was still perplexed about his cousin’s behaviour, as if there was something to hide. He remembered the small, red figure that was rushing through the trees and how it had escaped as soon as he called out to it. 

"Certainly!" Julian replied and went upstairs to fetch his sketchbook. Roderich flipped the book open gingerly, highly suspicious of what he would find. But contrary to his belief, it was just the brief sketches of the aristocrat’s portrait and a couple of watercolour paintings of the sunset and garden, which was not far away from the house. 

"Oh.." Roderich said sheepishly. Some of the drawings were drawn with such intricate detail, just like an experienced artist. It amazed him so much that he had almost forgot the reason of why he was so suspicious of his cousin in the first place. 

"Well?" Julian asked, "I did tell you that I was only painting pictures of the sunset…"

Dismissing the artist with a faint smile, he went upstairs to practice for the upcoming recital. It was already tonight and he did not feel as if he had done enough practice. He felt rather silly for accusing Julian. Why would such a young man be connected to the intruder during the last consecutive afternoons? Roderich knew that Julian was a little bit strange, but it was too much of a stretch of the imagination to accuse him of following Vash and himself secretly. As his fingertips touched the keys, he closed his eyes and began to practice, momentarily forgetting about his paranoid suspicions. He let the music carry him far away from his troubling thoughts. It made him calmer this way. Fingers danced up and down the keys as his mind became less cluttered and frantic and more clear. Nothing bothered him now. It was going to be a relaxing afternoon and then a hopefully successful evening if he was able to remember the notes. 

After he had finished, he got ready and left the house to meet up with Vash. The two walked to a local, expensive restaurant, which was much too pricey for either one’s taste so they left to a much plainer but more affordable cafe. 

They both took their seats and inspected the menu carefully. After much deliberation, Vash turned to Roderich.

"What are you going to be ordering?"

The Austrian frowned for a moment, still trying to decide. Even though it had been a fairly peaceful afternoon so far, he was still anxious that he had not practiced enough for the upcoming recital.

"Don’t worry about tonight." Vash said, reading his thoughts. He placed a hand on Roderich’s arm "You’ll be fine. Just try not to think about it too much.

"I suppose you’re right." Roderich replied, "But there is something else that has been concerning me."

"What is it?" The Swiss asked, his green eyes quickly looking up to the apprehensive tone of his partner. 

"Oh, it’s probably nothing…I just think that I might be going mad. Since yesterday, I saw someone running near my property. They seemed to be coming from where we had met up."

It was Vash’s turn to look worried “What?!” He shouted, “What are you saying? Do you think that someone was watching us?” 

"I don’t know.." Roderich sighed hopelessly "But it just seemed too coincidental that Julian had arrived home much later than I had. I’m really worried about that boy. Sometimes I just have no idea what goes through his head."

"You said yourself that he was a little strange." Vash said reassuringly, although more to himself rather than Roderich. His eyes began to dart back and forth around the cafe, as if someone were watching them at the very moment "…He was probably just going out to see a girl or something. You know how most young men are like at that age." 

"But that’s just it. He’s not like most of the other boys. We have both been raised very differently to the rest. I know that he was just painting pictures of the sunset, but I still can’t help but to feel a little doubtful." 

The Swiss thought for a moment, considering the Austrian’s words. “I think that it’s probably too soon to jump to any conclusions just yet. Maybe we should just eat and forget about it for now.” He turned to the menu and fingered at the prices “I think that this one is probably the best to follow.” he said, changing the topic. It was was cheapest item on the menu. “What about you? Is there anything that you want to eat?”

"I’ll just have whatever you’re having." Roderich answered glumly.

 

That evening, Roderich was at the piano again. He practised the recital piece a number of times until he was satisfied and then got up to get changed into his tuxedo. In the bedroom, he was about to take off his shirt, until he spotted a small figure standing in the shadows. A chill ran down his spin until he realised that it was only his cousin. 

"Oh Julian. You startled me. What are you doing here?" The Austrian asked.

The younger man walked closer to the light “Sorry cousin. I was just wondering where you were heading off. I have barely seen you at all today.”

"The music recital of course. I’ve been preparing for it for weeks! You can come along if you like. Do you need to borrow some clothes?"

Julian nodded slowly. Roderich went over to his wardrobe and took out some shirts, pants and a coat. “You can borrow these.” He said, “I wore these at your age. They’re much too small for me now.” 

The artist began to strip off his clothes in front of the aristocrat, startling him.

"Err…. You don’t have to change here. Go and change behind the screen over there." the Austrian said quickly, feeling embarrassed. Julian looked crestfallen, but went behind the screen just as Roderich had directed. 

As soon as the two had finished getting dressed, Julian was just about to leave the room until Roderich had called out to him.

"Get back here! I will not have you walking around with your shirt untucked like that." 

Julian turned around stubbornly and tucked in his shirt. As he did this, Roderich had moved towards him to help tie his bow tie correctly. He then unravelled the braids and began to redo them in a much neater fashion. 

"A gentleman must always look dignified." Roderich said, his voice close to Julian’s ear. As he threaded his fingers through the long, platinum hair the other jumped, recalling the touch from his own dream.

"Uh…I think I can do my hair myself." Julian said abruptly, turning bright red. The Austrian looked back at the younger man, baffled by his reaction. He had no idea about the dream, of course but to the artist, it had seemed so real. He felt incredibly ridiculous now and pathetic, thinking too much about something that was far too impossible and unsavoury. 

Once they were ready to go, he sat far away from Roderich on the carriage, avoiding any eye contact. Roderich was still confused about his behaviour, yet he did not want to ask about it as he was more focused on remembering how to practice the recital piece. They had arrived at the orchestral hall and without a word found their seats. Vash was already there waiting for them. 

"Guten Abend." Vash greeted politely, shaking hands with Roderich and then Julian in turn. He had seemed to be more approving of the younger man, now that he was a lot quieter and better behaved. Julian glared at the Swiss, suddenly jealous of the other man’s position. It was perfectly fine for the blond to behave affectionately towards Roderich, yet whenever Julian had done so, the aristocrat was immediately uncomfortable. Fuming, he sat down gingerly next to Vash, turning his gaze away from him and towards Roderich. 

Initially, he had not realised how well groomed the Austrian had looked that evening. Hair was combed up and over to one side neatly, which was such a contrast to how his hair had been on a daily basis. The lenses on his spectacles shone so brightly that Julian was unable to see the violet eyes that had stolen their way into his fantasy. He liked seeing Roderich this way, for this had created some proper distance between the two. As the Austrian sat at the piano and began to play, Julian tried to pay attention to the song that was played.

When the rest of the orchestra had joined in, he was captured by the uplifting and eloquent tune. But while he was enjoying the song, he shot a glance at Vash next to him. The Swiss’ green eyes were wide with a strange lustre. It was as if the man was in some sort of trance. It humoured Julian to see such a serious man in a loose state. He would have been furious with him, had his expression not been so funny to witness. A giggle escaped him before he could stop himself. Before he was about to pretend like nothing had happened, his giggle became louder as it echoed in the large theatre. Vash turned to him to glare angrily and all the other well-dressed people began to stare as well. 

"What?" Julian asked. Before he could say anymore, he found himself being dragged away outside by Vash.

"What the hell do you think you are playing at?!" snapped the Swiss, "Roderich didn’t invite you along to the recital so that you can laugh at him. You’ve probably distracted all the musicians now. He invited us to be his guests. How do you think he’s going to feel now? He had prepared for this piece for so long and now he’s going to feel like his efforts were not good enough."

"I…I wasn’t laughing at that!" Julian tried to explain, but the older man did not want to hear his reason.

"You wait out here until we are done." Vash said firmly. "I do not want to waste my whole evening arguing with you. I’m going to go and appreciate the music that Roderich and the rest of the orchestra had worked so hard to produce." At the last word, he turn on his heel and stormed back up the stairs and into the theatre. 

Julian pulled a face after Vash and then propped himself down on the lowest step glumly. He had wished to bring along a sketchpad or something to draw with. It was hard to say how long he would have to sit outside for. All the amusement for Vash had seemed to wear off and he was feeling frustrated and jealous once again. He knew that what he was feeling was completely wrong on every level, but he couldn’t help it that Roderich had made him feel this way. The Austrian was not only hospitable and kind, but he had a certain desirable quality, a charm that had made him pleasant to be around. Even though he had acted strict, he seemed to have a soft spot for the younger man. Julian could see it, even though the aristocrat preferred to conceal his emotions. Sighing, he visualised Roderich’s long, delicate fingers playing on the keys skillfully and wished that he could be in the theatre to watch them. As time stretched on painfully, Julian felt very hungry and tired. It was also getting rather uncomfortable to sit on the step. He thought about ordering a carriage to take him home, but to his desperation he did not have any money with him. Walking all the way back to the mansion also seemed out of the question. 

After what had seemed like an eternity, the recital was over. Numerous people flocked down the stairs, all excited and talking feverishly about the performance. Pretty soon, Julian could spot Roderich and Vash walking downstairs together. As soon as the Austrian had caught sight of Julian waiting outside, he turned to the Swiss in astonishment.

"You sent him out here all alone?!" He gasped in disbelief.

"Well, he was too busy chuckling and making a fool of himself to appreciate the music. How else can I discipline him?"

It was Roderich’s turn to lose his temper “I am the one who can discipline my cousin, not you.” he retorted. “Why, yes he was a distraction, but only for a short amount of time. You should not have left such a young boy out here all by himself like that! What were you thinking?!”

The other’s eyes widened in anger as he glared at Roderich “So you think that it is okay for children to misbehave in your recital? What happened to being doubtful?” 

In exasperation, the Austrian shut his mouth and grabbed Julian’s hand. The younger man’s heart skipped a beat at the sudden gesture. Before he knew it, Roderich was taking him along with him towards the open carriage. The Swiss was chasing after them, shouting back in protest.

"I was only trying to help!" he yelled, "I don’t know why you are so ungrateful."

"Take us home right away." Roderich ordered the driver, ignoring his partner "Schnell!"

The driver obeyed and quickly drove away. The Swiss watched the carriage drive away hopelessly, dismayed at the Austrian’s complete change in behaviour. It was only a few hours ago that Roderich was anxious about the behaviour of his younger cousin, yet now he was jumping to his defence. Nothing made sense. From that moment on, Vash knew that something was not quite right with Julian. From the last two times that he and Roderich had met together in secret, they were pursued. Judging from Roderich’s account, it was too much of a coincidence that Julian had arrived home much later than the Austrian. 

He did not know how he had done it, but Julian had managed to manipulate Roderich’s behaviour. The young man was clearly up to no good and it was only a matter of time before the Austrian would completely fall under his control. It was a stroke of madness which needed to be erased as soon as possible. 

 

Back in the carriage, Julian stared back at his older cousin gratefully. He could not believe that the Austrian was so concerned for him “Danke..” Julian said with a smile “I didn’t know how much longer I had to wait outside.”

"It’s nothing." Roderich replied curtly, still upset at the Swiss’ neglect. 

Noticing his sadness, Julian smiled and slipped a hand onto the older man’s for comfort. It was just as soft as he had always imagined it to be. At first, Roderich’s eyes widened in surprise, but he gave a weary smile and allowed his hand to stay there.

By the time they had arrived home, they had a small supper and began to get ready for bed. Julian climbed into bed, dressed in his gown. The Austrian came in after him. After discovering what Vash had done, he had suddenly felt protective for the younger man’s well being. As his only family, it was his duty to watch over him and make sure that he was safe. 

"Gute nacht, Julian." Roderich said quietly, giving a kiss to the younger man’s forehead like usual. He pulled the blanket gently over him, making sure that he was tucked in well. "If you ever need anything, you are always welcome in my room, okay?"

"Okay." Julian replied with a smile, satisfied with the attention he was receiving from his cousin now. "Gute nacht to you too."

Giving a silent nod, the Austrian turned around and walked away, leaving the young man alone. After the door had closed, Julian turned to the picture under his pillow again and gave Roderich’s portrait a kiss on the lips again before going to sleep. 

He was back on the soft bed of white again. Roderich had approached him again, smiling at him widely. 

"Do you want to go down to the lake with me?" he asked sweetly, stroking his cheek. 

Julian blushed and nodded shyly. Roderich smiled his answer, as if a teacher smiling at a student for stating the correct answer. “Just as I thought…” he whispered “Come with me then.”

The pianist’s hand was in front of him. Julian took it and was pulled from the bed. The two Austrians walked together from the bed down to a sunlit landscape, reminiscent to the Salzburg painting that Julian had painted for a commission a while ago. They walked down a path and through a field. Then, in a few moments they were at a lake.

"Come and swim in the water with me, Julian." Roderich encouraged. "Come on. Don’t be afraid."

Without another word, Roderich had removed his clothes completely. He stood in the sunlight, his bare body radiating a pure light. Julian stared at the aristocrat’s naked body, feeling ashamed for being so curious. He tried to turn away, but the Austrian gave a light laugh.

"There’s no need to be bashful. You can look at my body as much as you like. We have no secrets, dear cousin. Now take off your clothes too, so we can come and swim in the lake together."

Julian slowly removed his gown and then steadily took off his undergarments in turn. He was covering his body, feeling a little envious of Roderich’s more developed physique. However, it was different to the naked bodies that he was always encouraged to draw in art school. It was not overly muscular, nor was it very broad. Instead, it was slim and pale, like a young woman. But it was this gentleness, which had really appealed to the young man so much. 

"Don’t hide your body." Roderich said reassuringly "Now get into the water." 

The two climbed into the lake, which was shimmering brilliantly in the warm sun. The Austrian touched one of Julian’s long strands lightly and gazed into his wide, violet eyes.

"You look so beautiful without your clothes on, do you know that?" he asked.

After recovering from awe, Julian was able to speak again “I…I thought you didn’t want to see me undress in front of you.”

The aristocrat gave a soft laugh, which seemed to calm the younger man all at once “Oh, do you really think that I’d be afraid to see you unclothed? Come on, we’ve seen each other without clothes countless times. This is just like when we were children.” 

"I guess you’re right…" Julian said quietly "But why can’t you always be like this?"

"I already told you, we have to be discreet." Roderich explained patiently "And now that Vash is out of our lives, nothing will interfere with our love. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?" He kissed him on the lips, causing Julian’s face to grow hot once more. 

"Yes…more than anything." His voice was strained as he had struggled to find the words. 

"Then don’t be ashamed." The Austrian replied "Follow your heart and don’t hide anything from me anymore."

They swam further out into the lake. Then, when they had found some shade, they embraced tightly, skin on skin. 

"I want to be with you forever.." Roderich whispered, before they had submerged under the clear, sparkling lake together. 

Julian woke up, panting and soaked in sweat. He looked at the old clock in his room and saw that it was still far too early in the morning. Stretching, he took one look at the portrait of Roderich and he could feel his heart sink in disappointment. It still did not look perfect. He got out of the bed and spread out all his art materials and went to work with a fresh new page of his sketchpad. 

He turned to his earlier sketches of Roderich’s profile as a guide and was careful to sketch the details exactly. Then, when he had to fill in the eyes, his hand became lost in the purple paint that he used to bring out the unique light of his irises. Soon afterwards, he began sketching the rest of his long, slender body, which he had based from his dream. It was a struggle at first, but after he had sketched in the general shape and proportions, he was well on his way to drawing the whole figure properly. After erasing a few lines here and there, he was finally satisfied to go back to sleep again. But as soon as he went back to bed, the sun had risen and he was forced to go down to the dining room. 

"Guten Morgen, Roderich." Julian greeted sleepily, sitting down at his usual seat.

"Morgen, Julian." The Austrian replied, not even looking at the young man. "You’ve been waking up much too late these days. It’s really not healthy."

"Is it?" The young man asked innocently "I’ve just been working on my artworks, like always. I don’t see anything unhealthy about that." But as soon as he said this, he paused, remembering the drawing he had drawn of Roderich, unclothed. Had he seen it? Suddenly he began to feel extremely nervous.

"It’s okay." Roderich answered, his voice calming him "I’m just wondering whether you may be overdoing it. Don’t you have any friends your age that you can play with? Or someone to speak to from art school? You can’t always stay in solitude, you know."

"I don’t have friends…" Julian responded, much to Roderich’s disappointment "But it’s okay. I like being alone." Yet there was something to the aristocrat’s tone of alarm which had given him an idea, a chance to perhaps spend more time with him "…But if you insist." he said, staring at the Austrian intently "I wouldn’t mind spending some time with you."

"Me?!" Roderich asked in amazement, "Why..Why would you want to spend time with an old musician like me? You’re young. You should be making the most of your days." He looked down as he recalled vague memories of himself sitting at the piano when he was a young man "..Don’t waste your youth alone. Make the most of your life." 

"I know what you’re saying." Julian replied "But that’s not what I like to do with my time. Nobody understands me as well as you do, Roderich. So please, it will make my day if I can be company to you."

After a few moments of deliberation, Roderich gave a sigh “Very well.” He agreed. At least, with Julian under his watch he could see what the youngster was really up to “We can spend the afternoon together, if that is what you really desire.” 

"Danke!" Julian replied cheerfully, giving him a hug. The Austrian gave a small smile in response. After they had eaten breakfast, Roderich watched the young man bolt up the stairs, braids flying. It was a wonder how something so small could be so valuable to the young man. Even though they had been raised similarly, Julian was much more cheerful about life than Roderich ever was, and in turn was able to see more colour in anything ordinary. 

At first, Julian had expected watch Roderich play piano. But the man had came into his room while he was drawing a bird that was sitting on a branch near the window. As he stood and watched him sketch, he gave him a choice. 

"Where would you like to go?" He asked.

Julian’s eyebrows rose, for it was very unlike Roderich to give such freedom “Oh…I don’t mind. Out I suppose. Perhaps to the lake?” 

The Austrian’s calm face expression turned into one of panic “W-Why do you want to go there for?” he asked nervously. Now, there was no doubt in his mind that Julian had been watching Vash and himself together. 

"Well, it is a hot day. I just thought that it would be nice to go for a swim." Julian answered nonchalantly "We can just dip our toes in the water, if you’re too scared to swim."

Roderich sighed and gave a nod in approval. “Okay. I suppose we could.”

After ordering the carriage, the two of them travelled down to the lake. They sat at the edge, dipping their toes in the water. Just like his dream, the water was sparkling, yet the Austrian was nowhere near as romantic. 

Disappointed, Julian took out his sketchbook and began drawing again. At first, he did a watercolour painting of the lake and then some of the flowers that grew in the field nearby. But it just wasn’t the same. Something was still missing.

"Roderich, could I draw you again..Please?"

The aristocrat shrugged “If you really want to.” he sighed. He seemed more relaxed now, and less willing to want to debate with the young man or to question his motives.

Looking pleased with the approval, the artist began sketching right away. It was much easier, now that he had a real-life source in front of him for reference. He sketched for a while, and satisfied with the outlines he started to add in the watercolours. Every few minutes, he would look back at the Austrian and meet his eyes. Despite usually distancing himself with subjects in art school, he had only felt even closer to Roderich. The urge to just run his hand along his elegant features was far too overwhelming that he had to turn back to his painting and focus on getting the portrait just so. After he had finished painting, he was feeling confident enough to show the older man his work.

"So, what do you think?"

As his eyes had fallen on the sketchpad, he was taken aback. A highly detailed and elegant portrait of himself looked back at him with stunning, violet eyes. It had not only looked lifelike, but there was a certain warm and attached feel connected to it. The work had engaged him on a greater level than any other painting had. 

"…I.." Roderich began, "I think it looks wonderful." He wanted to look at the artist directly to compliment him, but his eyes seemed to be unable to look at anything else. It was truly a spectacular sight. 

"You really think so?" Julian asked, a smile spreading on his lips as he heard the good news. He was pleasantly surprised at Roderich’s reaction. It had been so rare to receive praise for his artwork, especially from someone as conservative as his own cousin.

"I mean it. " Roderich answered firmly, facing the artist finally "You really have done a great job." 

"Well, you can keep it then." Julian replied, and before the other could say anything, he had tore the page from the sketchpad and handed it to him. "It’s the least I can do after you had wanted to spend the afternoon with me." he continued. 

After a long silence, Roderich took the painting from him. As he did this, his hand briefly touched Julian’s. The younger man could feel his heart in his throat and shyly looked down again. Oblivious to Julian’s reaction, Roderich stood up. “We should probably get going. Danke for the picture.” 

"You’re welcome." Julian replied softly. They went back to the house silently to eat and Roderich continued practising on the piano again. While he had practised, he felt a slight draught and heard a few soft footsteps. Julian was sitting behind him and watching him play. 

"Could you please tell me that you’re coming in." Roderich asked, startled by the young man’s sudden presence. 

"Entschuldigung, Roderich." Julian apologised "I just got bored and I wanted to hear you play. It was a pity that I missed watching your recital, so I think that spending some time with you would make up for it."

"Well, you have a good point." Roderich responded. He patted at the seat beside him "If you really want to watch, I suppose I can’t stop you. Here, I’ll show you how it’s done." 

With his head downcast, Julian walked towards the stool and sat down. From all the other times he had spent with the Austrian, it was a rare occurrence for him to allow anyone to sit beside him. Roderich began to play some scales and warm up exercises. As he saw the young man watch his fingers in curiosity, he offered to teach him to play.

"Now, you place your hand on the piano like this. Stretch your hand out like a fan." Roderich instructed. Julian tried to follow and then mimic the tune that he had played.

"No no no." Roderich criticised "Your hands are too much like claws. You need to relax more. Be looser, but don’t get sloppy. Try again."

Julian tried once more, determined to make the older Austrian proud of him. But to his disappointment, the older man was shaking his head. He placed his hands over the artist’s to position his fingers correctly “Like this…” He said. Julian’s cheeks turned an awkward shade of pink as he felt Roderich’s soft, silky hands and tried to ignore the strangely comfortable sensation. After a while, he had played the tune correctly, but Roderich did not give him too much praise. 

"You’re improving," he commented "But I think-" 

"Excuse me, Herr Edelstein." A maid interrupted "You have a visitor."

Roderich stood up from his seat and quickly left the room, forgetting to finish his sentence. Julian looked after him, still feeling too shaken by the contact. 

 

The Austrian reached the door. “Oh. It’s you.” He sighed.

Vash looked back at him desperately “Look, Roderich. I know I was out of line last night, so I’m just here to ask for your forgiveness. I’m sorry.”

Roderich realised how sad the Swiss had looked, completely resigned and lonely. He had been careful not to argue with the Austrian, in fear that their relationship would be jepodised. 

"You’re right." Roderich agreed, "You were out of line. But I can’t afford to be angry with you for long. Come in. Julian and I were just going to have dinner."

"Cousin, aren’t we going to play on the piano more?" Julian asked, a little crestfallen that Roderich had forgiven Vash so quickly. 

"No, no more today, Julian. This is a serious matter. Now go into the dining room and we’ll eat together." 

Once they had begun to eat, Vash was busy talking about mundane things like sales and discounts that he had noticed while shopping for groceries. Roderich listened to him, taking mental notes on the certain places to shop at. 

"…So, it was only yesterday when the *Raclette cheese had been twice the price it is now." Vash trailed on "I was so surprised that I bought two. I’m sure that Lili would be happy as well. She’s growing very fond of having this cheese in a sandwich." 

"Oh, I find that hard to believe!" Roderich exclaimed "Cheese is always so pricey. I must remember to buy some more." 

Meanwhile, Julian was getting very bored of the discussion that the two men were having. He turned his attention to Roderich, staring at his features and figuring out how he could best improve drawing him. Before he could stop himself, his fingertips were instinctively tracing the Austrian’s profile on the table. He continued for this way for a while, completely unaware that Vash was quietly observing him. 

The Swiss looked puzzled at the behaviour but remained silent. At last, when dinner was finished and Julian had excused himself from the table to draw, Vash turned to Roderich worriedly. 

"Don’t you notice anything odd about Julian lately?" He asked suspiciously.

"Well, he does seem to be a lot more quieter than usual." the Austrian admitted "And he has been drawing quite a lot frequently. But I’ve found him to be quite pleasant and well behaved. I think that maybe living with me has taught him to act more like a gentleman." 

"I guess." Vash said quietly "But are you okay with that? Don’t you think that he is asking for too much?" 

"Of course not!" Roderich looked horrified at the accusation " Julian needs my company. He is a lonely boy. I need to take care of him."

Vash patted the brunette on the shoulder “Yes. I understand. I just want you to take care of yourself as well, Roderich. You’re important too.” 

The Austrian blushed and bent down to kiss the blond on the lips “And you’re important to me too. But let me spend some more time with him, okay? Once things are better for him, he can move back to his home…. And things will be back to normal.”

Yet after they had embraced once more, Vash did not feel so confident with his words. He left the house, still brooding silently over all of the possibilities. From the first time he had met Julian, he noticed that he was a little strange, yet lately he had seemed so quiet and intense. While they were sitting at the table, the young man was peering at Roderich in such admiration. Of course, this should not be so unusual, since Vash was aware of how his little sister, Lili had respected him. But the amount of respect that he was displaying for the aristocrat was perhaps too much. A dirty, unsavoury word filled his mind but he tried to push it away. Incest? No. It was not possible. Roderich was a very respectable man and such ill concepts could hardly be associated with him. It was true that the Austrian had a charming air and was highly talented, even handsome. There were qualities that Vash had admired so much in Roderich. But it was just wrong for Julian to also like him in the same way. He walked on, trying to push the concept out of his head. It was just too much to accuse him without evidence. 

Someday, Vash thought Someday I’ll figure out what is really going on. 

 

Back at the house, Julian had been unusually helpful with clearing the table and got ready for bed without any protest. Roderich went to his room to tuck him as usual. 

"Gute nacht, Julian." Roderich said, after kissing him on the forehead. He then turned to walk out of the room.

"Roderich…can I ask you something?"

The aristocrat paused and turned around to face his cousin. It had been the first thing he had said since dinner. Whatever he was about to say had to be important. Curiosity piqued, Roderich gave a nod to allow Julian to speak. 

Julian froze for a moment as he remembered the words that Roderich had spoken in his dream.

Follow your heart and don’t hide anything from me anymore

"I…I just wanted to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me." Julian said weakly, too frightened to really speak his mind. 

Roderich looked surprised at the unexpected gratitude, “You’re welcome…” he answered, but something in his tone was not quite right…A hint of suspicion. “While we are on this topic, I was wondering how you have been progressing in your art. Have you been selling any works?” 

The young man became tense. “Um..I’ve been drawing a few…” he said quickly “But no buyers yet.”

Following his instinct, the Austrian seized the sketchbook from the floor and proceeded to open it. Julian quickly leapt from the bed and grabbed hold of the book, fearful that Roderich was going to see what was inside.

"Let go!" he shouted 

"What are you talking about?!" Roderich demanded, tugging on the book harder "Spinnst du?" 

"Don’t open it, Roderich." Julian begged, his purple eyes filling with tears "Bitte…"

The older man sighed and let go of the book, feeling awful for causing the artist such grief. “I just don’t know why you don’t want me to look at your work.” he explained, “You did such a great portrait. I just wanted to see if there were others.”

Julian blinked the tears away, amazed that Roderich still wanted to view the sketches. Yet he had given up and was just standing before him, barehanded. 

"My work…it’s just not good enough…" Julian tried to explain, "You wouldn’t like it. Nobody will." 

Although he was not entirely convinced, Roderich decided not to press him any further. He was already feeling bad enough and at that stage, it seemed as if their relationship would crumble. In his eyes, he seemed to be treading on very thin ice. He left without saying anything else, not even a single apology. It was too risky. 

As Julian had fallen asleep, he was shuffling rapidly, his eyes writhing wildly within his sockets. 

There was no white bed. Julian was lying on a patch of grass. There seemed to be nothing around him for miles. A man was walking towards him. At first, his face lit up, thinking that it was Roderich…but when he was closer, it was some other Austrian aristocrat. The face was so plain, so ordinary that Julian was unable to recognise it from anywhere, yet he had worn such a flamboyant looking suit. 

The man, was Mr Heinz, his commissioner. 

"Well, has the painting been done yet?" The man asked. Julian looked down and noticed his easel and paints all set out already. The landscape of Salzburg was complete. 

"Yes, Herr Heinz. I have it right here. I will just add another coat of medium in order to enhance the colour."

Mr Heinz was behind the young man now, staring at the painting. He had only looked at it for a few seconds before he had started to shake his head.

"Is anything the matter?" Julian looked startled. 

"Oh, Julian. This is very naive work. I had invested a lot of high hopes for you! For a child prodigy, this simply will not do."

Shock began to fill the young man; not only for the direct criticism but the way he had turned away from his work so abruptly, as if it were not important enough for his complete viewing attention.

"Why? What is wrong with it?" Julian asked, "I did everything you suggested, for the commission."

The man gave a bitter laugh “You are even more naive than I thought. This is third-grade art. Why, I don’t even think one can put this in a gallery, let alone in a house. I was going to pay you good money for this, and you spent weeks producing something that a child could do! Don’t you see that your brushstrokes are too clunky or that the tone is uneven? And the vast amounts of colour..Completely unnecessary. Jarring, is the only polite word that I can use for this. What kind of flowers would have such a disturbing combination? Kitsch. Not my liking at all. This is wrong, and I’m afraid I just can’t accept it.”

The young man could feel tears threatening to seep from his eyes and he had to look down to avoid the older man from seeing his moment of vulnerability. If he had seen how upset he was, he would probably see it as another excuse to insult him more. Julian had spent many days and nights, constantly working and trying to perfect the piece…only to have it picked apart in front of him. 

"Bitte, Herr Heinz…I need money to pay rent. I’ll even sell it to you for half price, or you can sell it to one of your friends."

"None of my friends would be interested in this sort of superfluous nonsense. " Mr Heinz answered bluntly. "So now I must go." With that, he walked away and seemed to disappear into the distance. Julian was not entirely sure where he went, not that he even cared. He was on his knees, weeping over his failed efforts as an artist. 

But then he had stopped crying. A hand lay gently on his shoulder; a long, slender porcelain one. Julian looked up to see Roderich, who was sternly but cautiously addressing him behind his spectacles. 

"Dear cousin…" Julian whispered. "Oh, I can’t thank you enough. Please, take my painting. I respect you highly and I thank you for helping me so much…"

The hand was on his face, causing him to stop talking. 

"I just wish you didn’t hide from me." The Austrian said "I love you, Julian. Why do you wish to torment me for?"

"I love you too, but I-"

He cut him off with a kiss. “And that is all I need.” Roderich said. “Now don’t be sad.” He looked at the painting himself and gave a smile “This is lovely. But of course, I need you to stay with me. Don’t worry about Vash. There is only one person I can ever love..”

Tears of sorrow quickly turned to tears of joy as Julian nestled in the older man’s arms. Everything around them had instantly changed to the sublime landscape of Salzburg, just like the painting. He closed his eyes, wishing more than anything to stay there forever..

 

Sadly, the dream had ended and Julian had opened his eyes to reality. 

He climbed out of bed and dressed himself in his everyday clothes, taking one look at his reflection. A young man with a pale face and messy, long hair stared back at him. What would Roderich see in him? Everything he was telling him in the dreams he had were so different to how the Austrian had usually behaved. Was he too embarrassed to express his feelings? Was this a sign that he had to make the first move and tell Roderich how he felt? The more he had thought about this, the less it all made sense to him. It was much easier for Julian to express things through art, yet the portrait he had done was not enough. To his disappointment, he had very little focus these days, and had not even shown any of his artworks for possible buyers. Feeling completely hopeless, he went downstairs to have breakfast as always. 

The rest of the day was better than he had expected. The Austrian had spent most of the afternoon teaching Julian to play piano. But every time he had placed his hands on the younger man’s, he had become suddenly awkward and quiet. To Julian, it felt as if Roderich was getting closer and closer to him and when he had mustered the courage to tell him how he had felt, Roderich would suddenly leave to see Vash. Every other day after that had been the same, and every night that followed was a warning and a loving gesture from the Roderich in Julian’s dream. Why was it so hard? Loving someone had created him more heartache than anything else in the world. It was as if it had planted a beautiful tree; yet bore such poisonous, sinful fruit. He felt that he had to hide it, but the aristocrat had stopped asking him questions about his behaviour and art altogether. 

One evening, Julian had decided to finally express how he had felt. It was killing him too much to hide anymore. 

Roderich walked into his room as usual to give him a kiss on the forehead before tucking him in. Just as he did this, Julian sat up suddenly, his heart pounding wildly. In the dark, he found Roderich’s lips and kissed him softly. 

The older Austrian backed away. It was difficult to see his expression as the moonlight had reflected off his spectacles. To his horror, Julian did not know whether the man was about to yell or cry or even to kiss him back.

But as shocked as Roderich was, he was very calm, addressing Julian’s action of affection as a small error.

"I know that it is fine to kiss relatives." Roderich explained patiently "But only on the cheek or forehead. Kissing on the lips has to be saved for someone you really love." 

Julian felt his stomach sink, for it was as if the man was just chiding a misbehaving child. It was not what he had wanted his gesture of affection to be interpreted. The misunderstanding was not just a small one. Julian knew that there had many misunderstandings in the past. Art critics had told him that trees he had painted looked like stumps or that the birds in his illustrations appeared to be planes. But these were all misunderstandings that could be fixed, misunderstandings that did not cost a person’s reputation or a relationship with a loved one. 

He gripped Roderich’s shoulders, leaning closer to him as if he was afraid that the man would float away. “Ja, Roderich. I know what you mean…but you are the one I love.” He tried to explain, “You always tell me to not hide from you and so now I’m being honest. I love you Roderich. I’ve loved you from the time I had walked into your mansion. You have been the only person who really understands me and you’ve provided me with so much hospitality. You are the first person I think about when I wake up and the last before I sleep. Even your presence haunts me in my dreams. I can’t think of anything else.” Gazing through his spectacles, violet eyes trying to meet violet he whispered a question that he had wished to be answered positively, one that he had been too shy to ask even in his dreams

”…Do you feel the same?”

The aristocrat stayed silent for a moment as the words began to sink in. Nothing had made any sense to him. At one stage, he thought that the words that were spoken were nothing more than a figment of his imagination, perhaps from exhaustion. Was this just a stroke of madness? The same madness that he had experienced when he had heard the broken twig, or the dashing red figure? Vash had tried to warn him about Julian a number of times, but still Roderich had hoped to help the young man. He was his own flesh and blood after all. 

"I think that you’re just confused." He answered finally "It has been a long day and we’re both tired. Now go to sleep and we’ll never mention this again."

After he had left the room, Julian buried his face in his pillow and sobbed. It was not just from embarrassment, but also from rejection. How was he ever going to face him again tomorrow? All his efforts had been for naught. 

 

The next day, as Julian had feared, was extremely awkward. Whenever he had wished to speak to Roderich, the Austrian would cough and turn to one of the servants and assign them to help him with any of the everyday activities. Then, after he had left the mansion without a word, Julian decided to follow him.

He hired a carriage, telling the servants that he would only be gone for a few hours to do some drawings. Once in the carriage with his art supplies, he scanned the landscape, straining his eyes to catch a glimpse of the Austrian or his Swiss partner. After all, if Roderich had decided to go anywhere, it would be with Vash. Still, it was more preferable if he could find Roderich alone. He wanted to speak to him, to apologise at least. The words should never have come out of his mouth that evening. He felt regretful for his feelings and for admitting them. Julian had made the mistake that he always did; following his feelings rather than rational thought. Now, while he was determined to make things right, he was going to talk to him and try to smooth things over, perhaps to make their relationship right again. Hopefully there was still a chance. 

The carriage had finally arrived at the destination. Vash jumped off the carriage, thanked the driver and then ran through the fields and then past some trees. Sure enough, Roderich was sitting by the stream with the Swiss, talking and exchanging kisses as always. Julian had wanted to speak to him, yet with Vash there, it was going to make things complicated. He sat where he was, taking out a sketchpad to amuse himself while waiting for the couple to part their ways. As he pulled open his case to draw, he realised that the lid of one of his jars of ink had unscrewed. Rich, black ink had spread within the case, staining some of the materials inside. Even though Julian had always been clumsy, such a loss was so paramount that he cursed loudly. 

But just as he had done this, he had no idea that what was about to happen would be much more severe than the spilled ink. The artist had given himself away…

Vash was the first to hear the outburst. His hand was on the small gun that he had always brought with him. “Who’s there?!” He shouted. 

Roderich shook his head, trying to discourage the Swiss “Don’t worry about it, Vash. Let’s just leave them.”

"No! I won’t." The Swiss said stubbornly "And I think I know who is behind all of this! Show yourself!" 

Julian froze, too frightened to get up and run from his hiding spot. His heart was beating so fast that he was about to faint and sweat began to pour all over his body. But try as he might, he was unable to stay hidden for long.

Vash had lifted the willow branches in front of him and was glaring directly at Julian. “Ha! Just as I thought. You were spying on us the whole time.” Before Julian was about to grab his art things and flee, the older blond had grabbed the sketchpad. 

"Give it back!" Julian screamed "Give it back!" He tried to wrestle Vash, but the other man was too strong. To his despair, he opened the book in front of the young man. He flicked through the pages; gasping in horror at the drawings he had seen. 

There were drawings of two lovers, one tall with dark hair and the other with blond hair. The Swiss had immediately recognised the first to be Roderich, but the second was different…It wasn’t Vash. All of the drawings appeared to be sequences from the times that Roderich and Vash had spent together in the field and the lake. All the times where they had hoped to be alone. But the one thing that stood out the most was the second lover was not he. It was merely a sad, but strangely beautiful young man with long, platinum braids and big violet eyes. Even though it was drawn which such elegance and technique, Vash could not appreciate such art.

"This is…this is wrong!" He shouted. Julian shook, both from fear and from humiliation. "We’ll see what Roderich says about your sick and twisted fantasy! Roderich!"

"Don’t tell him, please!" Julian cried, but it was too late. Roderich had roused from his place and was standing nearby, looking at all of the paintings. Even though he knew that such content so forbidden, he did not react strongly. It was as if what had happened last night had made him immune to such things. He could not be angry at Julian for his drawings, or even for spying on Vash and himself all those times. Sympathy was the only emotion that he could feel. The more he had stared at the drawings, and then at Julian he just saw a teary, misunderstood artist who was neglected for so long.

"Well?!" Vash demanded, "What do you have to say about this, Julian?"

"Leave the child alone." Roderich said to his defence. He placed a hand on Vash’s shoulder in reassurance. "This is my fault."

"How?" Vash asked in bewilderment "You didn’t do anything. Did you?"

"No." Roderich admitted "But I did not fulfill my duty in taking care of you, Julian." Now that he thought of it, he was beginning to realise how wrong he was. He did not show Julian enough love and was always cold and stern. Rather than spending more time with him and encouraging him in his art, he had preferred to go out to see Vash. Roderich was training the young man to become more like him; reserved, secretive. He had loved him just like a cousin would, but he did little to show it. It was always difficult for him to show his feelings. 

As for the romantic affection, it could have been due to the fact that Julian was lonely and never taken out to see anyone his age. He was still growing, of course so it was normal to feel some affection for someone close to him. The Austrian was the only person he could really attach himself to and he had jumped to conclusions for the way that Roderich had understood him so well. Yet this was not the sort of love he should pursue. 

"Julian, could you please excuse us for a moment." Roderich said, as he realised a solution to the problem. 

Vash looked at the aristocrat as soon as they were alone “What is it? Do you think you have a remedy for his madness?”

The Austrian shook his head “No, but I think I may be able to find a way to minimise the damage.” He explained everything about the way he had behaved towards Julian; to the way he had spent less time with the young man.

"We were always close when we were small." Roderich explained "But then, we grew apart after he had gone to art school and since he had arrived back, we’ve never achieved the same closeness that we used to have. I became neglectful. When he drew me, I thought that it was a chance for things to go back to the way they were, but it ended up becoming an obsession…but for a young man, I don’t blame him." He looked deeply into Vash’s eyes "You see, when I was at his age, my first love was a piano teacher who I had admired greatly. She seemed to understand me, and praised me in my work. But she did not reciprocate my feelings once. I became jealous, even to the point of obsessive but after I had discovered that she did not feel the same, I became hurt and withdrew my feelings from everyone. Sometimes it is just easier to hide your feelings so that you don’t get rejected. It hurts less."

He closed his eyes as he reminisced the days of his youth. These were the times when he did not have any other friends and would stay either at home or go to the lesson. He remembered the well-lit, elaborately decorated room and the grand piano, which sat in the middle of it. Sitting at the piano was an older, beautiful woman, with raven hair that was pinned up elegantly. She smiled warmly at the Austrian, her light-grey eyes shining. Roderich blushed at the smile and tried to play. Every time he had made a mistake, she would place her hands on his own and guide him with how the piece should be played. Roderich would feel bashful with such close contact, but he had grown to love it, even to obsess over it. 

After Roderich had opened his eyes, he knew that all the feelings that Julian had went through were exactly the same feelings that he had before. And that was why he could not find it in his heart to lose his temper at him or to drive him away. Julian was only human after all. This obsession was not severe, but if kept lonely any longer, it would become worse. The last thing that the aristocrat had ever wanted was for his dear cousin to be driven to madness and committed to an asylum. The very thought caused him to cringe slightly that he had almost became so lost in his thoughts. 

"So what can we do about it then?" Vash said after listening to Roderich’s explanation. At first, he had seemed too furious sympathise with Julian, but now he was more understanding. "How else can we get him to be friends with people his age? The only person we know who is of a similar age is Lili but-"

"That’s it!" Roderich exclaimed. 

"Huh?" Vash seemed confused and at a loss for words, despite mentioning a possible solution.

"We shall introduce him to Lili." The aristocrat said simply.

The Swiss shrugged “I guess it is worth a try.” he said finally. Then, with a bit of a cheeky smile, he turned back to the Austrian “I’m just wondering. Are you still in love with that piano teacher?”

Roderich laughed, “She was very pretty. When I was younger, I thought that she was my whole world. But obviously a certain handsome Swiss man had stolen my heart instead.”

Vash smiled and gave a quick kiss on the Austrian’s lips “Of course I did, you idiot,” he smirked. 

 

After much discussion, Julian was taken to Vash’s house. At first, he was reluctant, but Roderich gave a small smile to encourage him as they waited for Vash to answer the door.

"Go on," Roderich said, "This will be a good opportunity to make friends. It will help, I’m sure."

"I guess…" Julian muttered.

As the door opened, a young girl with short, blonde hair like Vash in a pink dress was before him.

"Guten Morgen, Herr Edelstein." She greeted sweetly, yet she looked confused at the young man who was standing next to him but her face lit up instantly "…And you must be Julian, Herr Edelstein’s cousin." she added warmly "How are you? My name is Lili, by the way." As she said this, she held out a hand. Julian seemed doubtful at first, but then took it. 

The young girl led him inside “I hear you are an artist, Master Edelstein. Is that correct?”

Julian smiled awkwardly, yet he felt a bit more comfortable now “I guess you can say that.” he said. 

"Could you draw me please?" 

He was about to shake his head, when he caught her large, green eyes staring back at him. They were completely innocent, yet understanding. It was strange, because Julian had never really been in contact with anyone of that age. In fact, it almost reminded him of himself, or how he could have been like, had he not done things the way he had. Now that he thought of it, a child would probably seem less likely to criticise his work. 

He was willing to make things right. Not just for Roderich but also for himself. 

"I’d be delighted." Julian answered. Without him realising, a small smile began to form on his lips. He had never felt so relieved or so cheerful before. It was a different sort of happiness, like one without weight. For the first time in a while he had sat down and began to sketch a picture with less pressure. 

 

Just as the others had anticipated, Julian’s feelings for Roderich were slowly fading away as he had spent time with Lili. He had still loved the Austrian, yet it was a different kind of love, more like the love for a cousin. Pretty soon, Julian was feeling more comfortable with his art, especially as Lili would always compliment and admire his work. He continued working very hard and produced many more drawings and paintings. 

 

Like most other evenings, Roderich had returned to Julian’s dream. 

He was lying on the white bed again. The Austrian walked closer to the young man and gave a smile that was too large for his face. 

"So, Julian…I heard that you’ve been thinking less of me. Why is that I wonder?" He placed a hand on Julian’s face and leaned close to kiss him. 

But somehow, this did not seem right. The young man moved away quickly. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think we can do this anymore.” he said. 

"What are you talking about?" The aristocrat asked. He was sitting on his bed now and was leaning so close that their noses were touching "Don’t you love me anymore, Julian?"

"I do love you." The young man admitted "But not like this." He had felt that he was betraying the real Roderich for doing this. "I can’t accept this anymore. You’re not real."

Suddenly the pools within Roderich’s violet eyes had flashed red and he had gripped the young man by the hair painfully, causing the other to yelp “What?!” he demanded.

"You’re just a figment of my imagination. Nothing more." Julian explained. He felt bad for speaking in such a rude way, but it was important to break off this relationship. His heart was no longer in the same place anymore and nothing the man could do would change it. 

The Austrian leaned closer to caress him, but he pushed him away. “Go!” He shouted, with more purpose this time “I don’t want you here anymore.”

"You’re making a mistake." The other threatened, as his voice had hit a dangerous tone. Placing a hand on each side of Julian, the red-eyed impostor leaned closer. "Come on, you know you want this." He whispered. To Julian’s horror, he had climbed on top of him and was running his hands against his chest. "Don’t lie to me."

"Let go!" Julian shouted. He struggled to kick the man away, but failed. The other held him closer and attempted to kiss him again, but Julian moved his face aside. 

"You’re not real!" He yelled, "Get away! I don’t want you here. You hear me? Get lost!"

As he said this, he could feel the other’s body heat up at an intense rate. The red-eyed Roderich gasped, “You don’t mean that.” He said, feeling himself heat up in pain “Take it back!” He grabbed at the young man, burning him in the process. Julian yelped, but refused to take back his words. 

"You’re nothing but a fake. You’re not going to control me anymore." Julian said defiantly. The aristocrat shrieked and to his horror, his hands were beginning to burn up into flames. He waved them around in frenzy, struggling to blow out the fire but it only intensified.

"Nein!" The impostor cried as his arms and body were greedily engulfed by the flames “Just one more chance, bitte!"

Pretty soon, it was just his head that was not touched by the flames. It was one of complete agony and pain. Even though the red in his eyes were startling to look at, the man had looked so harmless then. 

"I’m sorry." Julian said, placing one hand to his cheek "But I have to let you go." With that, he moved his hand away and watched as the flames had made their way to the impostor’s face. As the orange embers curled around his features, the face had sunken hideously before falling apart.

A gigantic explosion of ashes fell from where the fire was. Following that was a loud cry that had shaken him. It pierced his ears and caused such a force that he fell on his knees.

“I WILL DESTROY YOU ONE DAY, YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT! I WILL DEST-“

Suddenly, there was silence. On the ground, the ashes threaded together to make a piece of paper. Julian walked to the sheet and picked it up. It was still warm from the fire, but it had cooled down substantially. All it was, was just a drawing that Julian had done…the drawing that he had drawn of Roderich that was under his pillow. While it was such a skillfully rendered portrait, it was the work of madness.

Julian sighed. He knew that he would have to get rid of that portrait one day. 

 

The young man was at Lili’s house the next day, drawing like he always did. His new friend had loved the portrait that Julian had done, which had provided him with more motivation and confidence to continue his art. 

"You should definitely sell some of your drawings." Lili said, "You’re just like a real artist!"

"You really think so?" Julian questioned.

"Of course I do." Lili beamed "I’ll even help you advertise."

Just as she had promised, Lili stood with Julian in the streets. Julian sat at a stool with a collection of some of his best drawings and paintings around him. At first, people did not seem interested in the two children, but when they had taken a closer look; they immediately became surprised in such skillful talent of a young man.

"Wie Schön!" An older woman exclaimed at one of the landscape paintings. "Who did this wonderful piece?" She asked Lili "Was it your father?"

"No, this artist did." Lili said proudly, gesturing at Julian "He’s a child prodigy."

"Extraordinary!" She marvelled "How does 80 Euros sound?"

Julian turned bright red and shuffled his feet, unable to comprehend such a steep price. Nobody had ever wanted to purchase his works, let alone for such a price. “Really?” The young man stammered shyly. 

"Do you want 85 instead?" The woman continued. "It’s just such a lovely piece, I need to pay it for what it’s worth."

Julian smiled “Danke. I think it’s fine with me.”

For the rest of the afternoon, more people wanted to buy Julian’s works. Finally, as the sunlight began to die, the two children hurried home where Vash and Roderich were waiting for them. Both were amazed with the tremendous amount of money they had made for Julian’s paintings. It had continued over a course of several weeks as more of his work had become popular. With Julian’s growing credibility as an artist, he never had another haunting dream of the aristocrat again, for these dreams were replaced by the simple, innocent ones of Julian and Roderich’s childhood in Salzburg.

Yet even though Roderich was proud of his cousin’s achievements, he felt rather sad. The man was maturing and he had enough money to get his house back. 

"Why do you look so sad, dear cousin?" Julian asked as he had noticed that Austrian had grown quiet. The aristocrat shifted to stare at the window so that the young man would not see the tears in his eyes.

"You’re going to leave us…" Roderich said quietly.

"But isn’t that what was how it was meant to be?" Julian asked "You would take care of me until I had found my feet. Now I have. I have more than enough money to get that studio back again." 

Roderich placed a hand into Julian’s hair affectionately “You’ve grown so much.” he remarked, “It’s just that, a few weeks ago I would have never thought that you would recover. I think now you’re ready to make it back into the world without my guidance.”

"You have been more than helpful to me, Roderich." The young man said "And I wish I could show it more. Thank you for taking such good care of me. And don’t be sad. I’ll come by and visit you sometime." 

To the aristocrat’s surprise, Julian embraced him so tightly that Roderich had to use every ounce of his self-control to hold back his tears. 

"Now please, get out of my sight." Roderich chuckled slightly, struggling to hide his sadness "I hate long goodbyes."

Julian smiled and went upstairs to pack. He had taken the portrait of Roderich that he had hidden under his pillow for so long and scoffed at how undeveloped his sketches were then, and for how naive he had once been. Without another thought, he tore the portrait into tiny pieces. Standing by the open-window, he threw them outside and watched as the wind had scattered all the shreds of his obsession. 

The wind blew all of the pieces away, and every frenzied stroke that he had done in his madness. It was a bittersweet sight. With that, he turned to his belongings and carried them with him to the open carriage. Roderich was no longer at the window, which did not surprise him. 

"Goodbye." Julian said to Roderich, wherever he was. But as the carriage began to start, he saw the Austrian suddenly appear at the window, raising one hand up in a sad, silent wave. As the carriage made its way down the lane and then crossed a corner, Julian was gone. 

The artist was ready to start an exciting and joyful life once more…

**Author's Note:**

> Translation key:
> 
> Herr: Mr
> 
> Guten tag: Good day
> 
> Entschuldigung: Excuse me/sorry
> 
> Danke: Thank you
> 
> Vielen Dank: Thank you very much
> 
> Liebe: Dear/love
> 
> Morgen: Morning
> 
> Fräulein: Usually a formal way to address a young woman, although this way of address is less common in recent years.
> 
>  
> 
> Auf Wiedersehen: Good bye (formal)
> 
> Bitte: Please
> 
> Servus: Could be used as a hello or goodbye and is frequently used in Austria and other central European countries
> 
> Tschüß: Bye/See you later
> 
> Guten Abend: Good evening
> 
> Nein: No
> 
> Leider: Sorry/unfortunately (depending on the context)
> 
> Schnell!: Quick!/Hurry up!
> 
> Gute nacht: Good night
> 
> Spinnst du?: Are you crazy?
> 
> Kitsch: This is actually a German word used to describe art that is mass-produced and does not involve much skill to be created.
> 
> Wie Schön: How nice
> 
>  
> 
> Footnotes: 
> 
> *Raclette: A Swiss company of cheese. I’m sure that we all know how much Swizerland loves his cheese!


End file.
